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Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
Special envoy of US President Donald Trump for Belarus affairs John Cole 15 arrived in Minsk for talks with Alexander Lukashenko in September. As in previous negotiations, when the U.S. envoy arrives in Minsk, the issue of releasing political prisoners is at stake. The talks are taking place in the Independence Palace, with Belarusian Prime Minister Alexander Turchin taking part. Cole leads the Trump team delegation, which traditionally conducts closed negotiations with Lukashenko's regime on further releases of prisoners.
The arrival of Cole in Minsk was reported by the Telegram channel “Pool of the First,” close to the Belarusian dictator's press service. A day earlier, 14 in September, the special envoy visited Vilnius, where he met with Lithuania's Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis— they discussed the release of Belarusian political prisoners and the security situation in the region.
Cole himself had previously stated that he expected new releases of Belarusian political prisoners around mid-September.
"The real number is about 700-800 people. I hope to bring it to a thousand in the near future," said the U.S. special envoy John Cole in an interview with Radio Liberty (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty).
According to Cole, the United States has already secured the release of five hundred prisoners, and then about two hundred more through pardons signed by Lukashenko. In total, the envoy believes, the United States helped release more than 500 Belarusian prisoners. According to the human rights center “Viasna,” as of 15 September, Belarusian political prisoners are recognized as 912 people.
The negotiation scheme between Washington and Minsk remains unchanged: the Trump envoy arrives in the Belarusian capital, discusses the release of political prisoners with Lukashenko, and in response the United States eases sanctions on Belarusian state structures and enterprises. It was this logic that underpinned almost every prior release—from hundreds of people to specific high-profile figures.
Currently, the full list of agreements is not disclosed. At the same time, it is known that the process of easing sanctions on Belarusian banks and potash industry enterprises is moving faster than previously planned, and the possibility of Lukashenko’s visit to the United States is being discussed.
Earlier, Informator reported that Lukashenko pardoned 250 political prisoners after the United States lifted sanctions on a number of Belarusian banks and potash-industry companies. Among those released then were journalist Kateryna Andriyeva, blogger Eduard Palchys, and human rights defender Nasta Loyka.
We also wrote that Belarus was expecting a new release of political prisoners ahead of one of the previous American delegation visits — an assertion made by opposition figure Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, stressing that Lukashenko uses prisoners as bargaining chips with the West.
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item "Спецпосланець Трампа прилетів у Білорусь - знову про щось домовлятиметься з Лукашенком". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: Informator.
